Battle of Jacob's Ford

Battle of Jacob's Ford
Part of the Crusades
Ruins of the crusader fortress at Jacob's Ford.
Date August 1179 Location Jacob's Ford 33°00′16″N 35°37′41″E / 33.004489°N 35.627954°E / 33.004489; 35.627954 Result Ayyubid victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Jerusalem	Ayyubids
Commanders and leaders
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem	Saladin Dolderim al-Yaruki Nur ad-Din Ortoki
Strength
About 1500	unknown
Casualties and losses
800 killed, of which 80 knights 700 captured	unknown

The Battle of Jacob's Ford was a victory of the Muslim sultan Saladin over the Christian King of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV. It occurred in August 1179, when Saladin conquered and destroyed a new border castle built by the Knights Templar at Jacob's Ford on the upper River Jordan, a historic passage point between the Golan Heights and northern Galilee. Jacob's Ford is also known by the Latin name of Vadum Iacob and in modern Hebrew as Ateret. Many scholars believe that Saladin's reconquest of the Holy Land and Jerusalem in 1187 was heralded by this earlier victory.

Saladin, one of the most famous Islamic rulers, was Sultan of Egypt and, by 1174, sultan of Syria after his takeover of Damascus. After seizing power in Syria, Saladin vowed to forge an Islamic empire around Jerusalem. Naturally, the end goal was to recapture the Holy City from the Crusaders, a significant stride towards an end to the Jihad. However, such a plan would take the Holy Land without major military conflict.

Baldwin IV took control over the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the age of thirteen after the death of his father Amalric I in 1174, the same year that Saladin came to power. Baldwin was a staunch believer in Christianity and, as a result, Saladin’s biggest problem to overcome. Although Baldwin was a rich and powerful leader, he was stricken with leprosy at a very young age.

After approximately three years on the throne at Jerusalem, Baldwin was faced with his very first military challenge. Saladin invaded the Christian kingdom in approximately 1177 to rout the Crusaders. Although Saladin was almost twenty years older and more experienced than Baldwin, the youthful Christian monarch did not flounder in stressful situations. Baldwin and his Crusaders outwitted the Muslims at Mont Gisard on 25 November 1177. As one Crusade scholar wrote with regards to Montgisard, "[t]his was a striking achievement – the only defeat in pitched battle that Saladin suffered before the advent of Richard the Lionheart and the Third Crusade". By the end of the battle, Saladin was forced to flee back to Egypt after narrowly escaping death. Although the victory resulted in tremendous losses for Baldwin’s armies, his image throughout the kingdom gained in strength. In fact, some Christians in the Near East had even come to believe that 'miracle' of his victory [at Mont Gisard] appear[ed] as a sign of divine mandate".

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